Saturday, January 11, 2014

I’ve just attended a very interesting webinar on “New Rules
for IT Project Value”, which I would like to share with you. Rather than measure projects by the expected “triple
constraints” (cost, time, and quality) Standish Group came up with a value
measurement system. Value-Based PM is a set of rules that can be used in any
environment to create project value.

Source: www.freedigitalphotos.net by KROMKRATHOG

To achieve a Value-Based PM environment, Standish Group
recommends following these 20 rules:

Rule #1
Leaders should lead. And this does not apply to PM but to a skilled
executive sponsor! Each project should have such a sponsor who is responsible
for inspiring, promoting collaboration, decisions & consensus!

Rule #2 Speed thrills.
A quick user feedback throughout the
project is essential!

Rule #4 Complexity
causes confusion and costs. Make it
simple. The best way to solve a complex
problem is to find a simple solution.

Rule #5 Don’t fail to
fail. That’s my favourite. So many people around me do not take decisions because
they are afraid of failure. I say, only people who do not do anything do not
fail. You cannot make real progress without risk.

Rule #6 Smaller is
better. Divide your project to smaller chunks/phases, as small projects
deliver value and it’s much easier to keep the motivation up when you deliver
quickly!

Rule #7 Run emotions
high. Nothing affects project value more than the organisational culture. Understand
the level of your company emotional maturity and constantly work to improve it.

Rule #8 Eagles don’t
flock. Engage highly talented people who understand both the business and
the technology.

Rule #9 Just do it.
Take decisions in a timely manner. Value-Based
PM recommends the organization measure, benchmark, and improve the
decision-making process.

Rule #10 The Rule of
Ten. Focus on quality versus quantity. It’s better to deliver 1 quality
feature than 2 poorly constructed ones. At each quality level you will pay 10 times
the cost to find and correct defects.

Rule #11 Always be
communicating. 3 ways of improving communication in your project: 1) Have
one central place. 2) Allow for personal communication preferences. 3) Make
your customer a part of your team! If you are interested in more please read my
article (in Polish) in Magazyn
Zarządzanie Projektami (4th edition) or here.

Rule #12 People over
process. People over process. Create and maintain community – a unified
body of individuals with common interests interacting and collaborating! Collaboration
creates value. More on collaboration in my previous post.

Rule #13 Only do what
is important. The Standish Group has found that fewer than 20 percent of
software features actually get used. The Standish Group also has concluded that
most PM processes and tools do not add value but rather add overhead to the
project. Scary? Isn’t it?

Rule #14 Don’t
confuse activity with progress. Agile methods focus on delivering product
and not on useless processes. Agile methods consist of iterations, small
groups, fast feedback, and continuous retrospectives. Implementing an agile process or methodology
using a small project philosophy goes a long way toward adopting a Value-Based
PM environment.

Rule #15 Don't
reinvent the wheel. Use existing components instead of building it from scratch.

Rule #16 A fifth of a
loaf is better than none. Value-Based
PM focuses on the obvious needs. Requirements are always incomplete!

Rule #17 Action is
better than clarity. Project teams should reduce or give up control of the
business objectives to encourage and promote innovation. In Value-Based PM the
business objectives are dynamic as the project progresses.

Rule #18 Only count
what counts. Select only three measurements and track those measurements.

Rule #19 Lay a good
foundation. Have a standard operating infrastructure and standard
development environment!

Rule #20 Tools are
for fools. Sophisticated tools cost and add work to feed them. The
investment in these tools takes away from more value efforts such as improving
executive sponsorship, emotional maturity, and the decision process.